Iran’s foreign minister calls for renewed dialogue with E3

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News Websites
24 Apr 2025 18:46

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi calls for renewed dialogue with France, Germany, and the UK, proposing visits to European capitals after failed past initiatives.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a news conference following his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, Friday, April 18, 2025 (AP)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called for renewed diplomatic engagement with France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, amid strained relations, expressing readiness to visit European capitals to break the current impasse.

In a statement posted on X, Araghchi acknowledged that Iran’s relations with the E3 have fluctuated over recent years and are currently at a low point. “Like it or not, they are currently down,” he stated, adding that while both sides hold differing narratives on the cause, assigning blame serves no constructive purpose.

“What matters is that the status quo is lose-lose,” Araghchi noted, underlining the need for constructive dialogue.

Iran's relations with the E3 (🇫🇷🇩🇪🇬🇧) have experienced ups and downs in recent history. Like it or not, they are currently down. Why? Each side has its own narrative. To me, placing blame is a futile exercise. what matters is that the status quo is lose-lose.

Last September in…
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 24, 2025

Diplomacy offered over confrontation

Recalling a meeting in New York last September with the foreign ministers of the E3, Araghchi said he had extended an offer for cooperation across a range of issues, including but not limited to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

“Instead of confrontation, I put forward cooperation not only on the nuclear issue, but in each and every other area of mutual interest and concern,” he said. However, he added, the E3 “unfortunately chose the hard way.”

Future hinges on E3 response

Following recent consultations in Moscow and Beijing, Araghchi reiterated Iran’s commitment to diplomacy, stating he is prepared to take the first step by visiting Paris, Berlin, and London.

“I was ready to do it before Iran commenced its indirect dialogue with the United States, but the E3 opted out,” he said, emphasizing that the initiative for renewed talks now rests with the European parties.

“The ball is now in the E3's court,” Araghchi asserted, urging the European states to resist pressure from special interest groups and seek a different approach in their relations with Tehran.

“How we act at this critical junction is likely to define the foreseeable future,” he concluded.

Iran rejects E3 allegations of JCPOA non-compliance

In a joint letter sent to Guterres on December 6, 2024, the E3 claimed that Iran had significantly escalated its nuclear activities in violation of the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

They cited Iran's enrichment of uranium to 60% purity, the expansion of enrichment activities at facilities like Fordow, and reduced cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), asserting that these actions posed serious proliferation risks and lacked a credible civilian purpose despite the absence of concrete evidence to support their claims.

In a letter dated December 9, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Saeed Iravani, described the E3's claims as "baseless" and argued that their stance ignores Iran's sustained efforts to uphold the agreement, despite the US' withdrawal in 2018 and the imposition of severe sanctions.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects the claims in the E3 letter regarding Iran's alleged non-compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA," Iravani wrote.

"Any allegation regarding Iran's implementation of its JCPOA commitments is fundamentally flawed when divorced from the full context of the US withdrawal. Such a claim ignores Iran's sustained efforts to uphold the deal despite persistent provocations and violations by the US and E3/EU."